Breeding brevicaudatus rieppeleon chameleons and incubation questions

That helped a lot, thank you very much.

Have you guys bred the little fellows before? I'm interested to hear your experiences. =)
 
I have another question. On flchams website it states on the checklist that I need a live plant. I have a pothos already so it wouldn't be an issue but is this a necessity?

http://www.flchams.com/chameleon_setup.asp

Also, how hardy would you say brevs are? On a scale of 1-10 with the proper husbandry and such how hardy are they?
 
You do not want the screen cage because with pygs you are going to use substrate. Substrate both holds moisture, and your females will need something to dig in and lay eggs. If you go to my website it shows you how to set up a 10 gallon tank for pygs. Especially in MI you are going to want to use a glass tank. I have kept, bred, and raised alot of Brevs., and CB are definitely hardier than wildcaughts, but neither one is considered hardy. They are not intended to be long lived little creatures, my longest lived one was a male I hatched in 08 that died last month. When something goes wrong with these guys, they are so small there is often nothing you can do. What temps do you keep in your house? You want to keep a Brev tank in the low to mid 70's during the day, and it can drop to 60 at night with no issues for the little guys. I have raised with direct UVB exposure and indirect since they often sit next to baby bins that have full UVB lighting. If it is really cold in your house a low wattage basking bulb would be needed. I would certainly put the Pothos in there, they make great plants for Brevs to climb on.
 
I'm going to take a look at your site right now. I appreciate the help and will use a ten gallon because of what you experienced brev breeders have been telling me. Thanks! You guys are so helpful here, I never expected to feel so welcomed. =)
 
I love the way you set up the substrate, I was actually wondering about the little clay balls and if it would be good to include them. My house is usually in the low seventies to high sixties so I will be using a bulb. Thank you again.
 
deffinately use the hydro balls or some small pea gravle to give it good drainage then a layer of weed fabric then a layer of charcoal to filter water then another layer of weed fabric then some organic soil the best part of having pygs is that you can udse soil and live plants to recreate as much as possible what their true home would be.... and let me be honest i love having a mini greenhouse lol
 
Using the clay balls and activated carbon how often would I change the carbon out or rinse it? And how deep should I make the coconut fibre substrate?
 
personally ive never had to clean the carbon or tear down a viv but if it got moldy or u had a problem with knats u might have to
and use your imagineation with the soil looks mugh better with hills and valleys just make a few spots 3-4 " deep some they can lay:D
 
I was just tallying everything up and am honestly suprised, I figured it would be more expensive to get my breeding project up and going, tell me if I have everything I need and if all of my information is correct:

($15) Ten gallon aquarium
($50) Twenty-nine gallon tank
(40.00+50.00 shippingx5=$450) One male and four females from flchams
(50.00x2=$100) (x2) UVB/UVA light (One for the babies and one for the adults)
(10.00x2=$20) (x2) Kritter Keeper (one for the eggs, and one for the crickets)
(15.00x4=$75) (x5) Clamp light (One for eggs, One for heat and one for UVB/UVA for babies, one for heat and one for UVB/UVA for adults)
(10.00x3=$30) (x3) Heat bulb (One for the babies, one for the adults and one for the eggs)
($20)Hydroton clay balls (LLLReptile.com)
($20) Coconut fiber
(Free) Wire window screen
($20) Aquarium active carbon
(Free) Pothos plant
(Free) Sticks

$790

feed adults every other day
feed babies every day
Mist often daily, mist eyes directly
mid 70's
70% humidity
Heavily plant the tank


Substrate: Start with the hydroton clay balls on the bottom, covered with window screen, covered with active carbon, covered with screen, and then the coconut fiber. Make the coconut fiber about 5 inches deep for breeding.

You can either leave the eggs alone or dig them up and incubate them.

Incubation: Use vermiculite as the mixture, clutches are usually 2-6 eggs after 41-92 days of incubation. Hatchlings will eat pinhead crickets, fruitflys, and springtails in a separate enclosure from the parents. Temperature of incubation tank should be in the early to mid 70’s. Must incubate in the dark. The mothers will lay 3-4 clutches of eggs each year. Use a sterilite tupperware container and be able to make a ball with damp vermaculite but not soaking wet, lay the eggs on top of this and cover the eggs with sphagnum moss to help maintain humidity. Females will start digging a hole to put their eggs in when they are gravid.
 
hey welcome

Hey welcome Pygmys are awesime.you should keep the eggs at room temperature but if it gets to cold where you live the maybe ant where from 67 to 75. Please send me a message me if you have any questions :)
 
I will probably have a lot more questions by the time I get my project up and going. I feel I have a lot more to learn before I do anything with the cute little fellows. ^_^ I'll definitely be messaging you some and I appreciate your help.
 
hey welcome

Hey Pygmys are awesome. You should keep the eggs at room temperature between 67 and 75. Send me a message if you need help with anything:)
 
Brevs typically live about a year right? And the males tend to live longer?

When I get my project going how important is it to introduce new blood to my stock? I also wanted to know if anyone had a good article on inbreeding and which crosses are okay and which aren't. For instance, in hamsters it is better to breed parent to child than brother to sister. Does the same hold true for chameleons?

EDIT:

Okay, I found an article on this and it says that line breeding can be a good thing to breed in desired traits so long as it isn't abused. THank you guys. THere is so much knowledge stored up on this forum it's ridiculous. lol
 
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